Iím a Ford man. Iíve had two of them now and not quite 17 yet even. í90 F250 with a 351 and a 5 spd (2wd) and currently a í89 F350 flatbed with a 460 and a 3 spd C6 a/t (2wd also). Both have 3.55 gears and stock size tires which is the same size on each truck. So with same gearing itís kind of easy to judge the power. The 351 in the F250 got 9-12.5 mpg depending on what youíre doing (trailer in town-highway empty). The 460 in the F350 gets 6.5-8 no matter what you do! The stop and go in town kills it. It doesnít really matter if you are loaded or not. Since it has no overdrive, itís hard on the highway too.
The 351 has sufficient power if you do not tow a lot. The 460 will flat out pull or push or haul ANYTHING. Itís really thirsty, but with the F250 I drove it everywhere for everything. The F350 I just drive it only for work use or when I cannot use one of my parentís cars. With gas prices at $2.09 today, itís really hurting me. My next truck will probably be a diesel. I have no complaints with the gassers except fuel mileage and prices. If you notice, diesel price stays pretty much the same. Gas prices are constantly getting spiked and jacked up to unreasonable amounts. But, in a gasser I know I can get fuel anywhere. Some places do not sell diesel. It just so happens that my favorite fuel station has it though. The gassers are quieter and cheaper to fix. They will last a long time if you take care of them too. Iím just ramblingÖ. Iíd like a diesel for economy, but saying you have a 7.5 liter 460 cubic inch big block is pretty impressive!!!! Think about it, they donít make diesels with that amount of displacement (I do realize that they donít need to, but some people donít know that LOL). Itís gobs of power and I love having this truck for working out of. The 8x12 bed is sweet, a/t is nice for a change, a/c will be nice when I get it recharged, and the 460 power is great. I just have to be careful not to use it for everything I do.

In short, if you could get good mileage from a gasser like the newer ones, Iíd probably just get one of them instead of a diesel. But if weíre talking older trucks, diesel will likely be a better choice.

What do you need the truck for? Are you using it to haul a really heavy load daily over a lot of miles? Or are you running a fairly tight route with just an average size trailer? Things vary so much by region it's hard to understand why someone might say why they need one over the other. For instance, until recently, diesel ran about the same price as 87 here. The last time gas went way up around these parts, diesel went as high and even a little higher than 93. This time diesel is sticking about 10 cents a gallon less than 87. That may change tomorrow. Trying to predict gas and diesel prices ranks right up there with being able to pick the winning lottery numbers

When one guy says diesel is the only way to go, he may be running a 50+ mile per day route. He might not fully grasp the notion of going less than 20 miles a day with 15-20 stops. Everyone has different needs.

A diesel will almost always do better on fuel than a gasser. But numbers reported can vary widely. Contrary to popular belief, not all oil squishers get 65mpg towing 54,000lbs up a hill both ways in a headwind My neighbor towed his new 20' enclosed trailer back from Ohio and said he knocked down 11mpg with his 2000 PSD 4X4 Crew Cab. Not bad in my book. But I have heard others claim 16+ towing a similar load. He claims 16mpg empty on average over the 100k or so miles he had the truck. Again, not bad, but others claim 25mpg +

Maybe he got a freak or maybe others have the freaks for knocking down so much better numbers. Dunno. In another case, my uncle paid for all the fuel on a trip out to Montana towing a 30' house on wheels last summer. The truck in question was a 2002 Ford crew cab 7.3 PSD. I do not know if it was 4x4 or not. He said they averaged 9.1 mpg. Again, not bad, but a far cry from some of the numbers you here other people getting.

Same goes for the V10 or V8 gasser. One guy may get 8.5 mpg towing a 20' enclosed trailer, the other guy might get 10.5. In my honest opinion, V10's getting 6mpg and diesels getting 18 mpg towing of the exception, not the norm. The maintenance costs are kind of a moot point. The diesel owner can bring up the spark plug thing, the gas owner can bring up the fact that the diesel oil and filters cost a whole heck of a lot more.

In closing, research and research some more and decide which is for you. Just remember gassers are never a good choice in a diesel owners eyes If you can get past that you are doing better than most people.

HE ASKED ABOUT A FRIKKIN V10!!!!!!! Can't he just get what he asked for instead of 20 people telling him to get something he doesn't want? He asked if anybody had a Ford truck with a V10. So far out of all of these people who posted, 2 people actually own a V10. He didn't ask if he should get a v10 or a diesel. He asked for anyone who owns a Ford V10 for their opinions on it. Some of you guys work so hard to show that diesel is the way to go. I think it's because you are still trying to justify to yourself the extra 5 grand you spent to get one. I own both, he asked about the V10, that's what I told him about. I don't care what anyone says, the only way it is cheaper to own and run a diesel is if you bought it used for dirt cheap and you're comparing it to a 460 running in 4 low trying to go 45mph up a hill dragging 4 tons of trailer. I feel better now P.S. Wayne, if you have any other questions that you want a real answer to feel free to PM me.

As a mech for many years and having had my time working on both, my $ would go to the V-10. Much easier and cheaper. You coal burners wait til ya need serious stuff done! Mortgage the farm! Spark plugs vs injectors? Ok.. most plugs in these gassers will go 100K nowadays. And if they have to be replaced, go buy a set and put em in. If yur injector goes bad on a coal burner it can cause all kinds of problems, like buying a new engine! Come cold weather.. wanna talk about glow plugs, glow plug controllers, plugging it in all night to heat the engine... with the gasser, walk out, hit the key, go back into the warm house, pour a cup of java and get with it. If yur on the highway, driving 50K a year hauling heavy loads and burning alot of fuel, then the diesel may be for you. Around the local area, stop and go, 5 to 10 stops a day, buy a gasser.

I've got 197k on my diesel and I have the original injectors and I've never had to plug my truck in.I'm paying 1.47 to 1.53 a gallon for diesel and it's 1.96 for medium grade gas.I repeat look at resale.You'll get more and sell quicker with a diesel.